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You can’t hide your company’s workplace culture.
We’re living in an age when people research jobs like they do restaurants or cars and use social media to do so, and mainstream media outlets publish exposes on working conditions at companies such as Amazon and Zenefits.
As job seekers, customers, and potential investors look for information on the inner workings of companies where they want to work, do business with, or patronize, employers need to become more open about their people practices.
“Companies have to make it easy to find out about what it’s really like to work there, says Anil Saxena, a partner with Great Place to Work, the consulting and research firm that produces Fortune’s annual list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. “The harder they make it to find it, the more people want to try. It doesn’t make sense to try to hide.”
Hiding may not make sense, but how, then, does a company impress job seekers and other stakeholders? It’s tempting to think over-the-top perks are the key to a killer culture. After all, companies such as Google (Alphabet) (GOOG), No. 1 on the 100 Best Companies list, have become synonymous with generous amenities such as on-site baristas, nap rooms, and private commuter shuttles. But decades of research by Great Place to Work and other experts have demonstrated that the heart of a healthy culture has to do with positive relationships at work, especially the amount of trust employees have toward leaders.
Perks Reflect a Company’s Mission
Fancy fringe benefits can be a sign of an excellent employer. But even powerful perks don’t have to break the bank. In fact, a perk that’s great for one company might not be as valued at another. “You’re not going to have nap rooms at a mining company,” Saxena says. “Perks are a reflection of the mission, or a representation of the culture. There are lots of organizations that do cool things for employees that employees feel are valuable to them, but they aren’t things you’ll find in Silicon Valley and that’s okay.”
At Recreational Equipment, Inc. (No. 26 on the list) for example, employees get to test the latest outdoor gear. “That’s a huge perk because they’re outdoorsy people, campers, mountain climbers and bikers. It makes sense,” Saxena says. Because employees at The Boston Consulting Group (No. 3) and Perkins Coie (No. 37) often work long hours, the professional services firms offer paid sabbaticals so people can relax and recharge.
Employees at No. 47 Hyatt Hotels (H) can stay for free up to a dozen nights a year at any of the hotel chain’s properties around the world, and get discounts on food, drinks and spa services while they’re there. All Hyatt properties have employee lounges with computers, TVs and video games. The $4.4 billion company spent an average $50,000 upgrading employee cafeterias to make them more like restaurants, with healthy menus available 24/7 at little or no cost. That’s not insignificant for hotel workers earning lower wages who might not otherwise be able to afford to buy and eat organic food, Saxena says.
Good perks don’t have to cost a lot to have a meaningful impact. No. 14 The Container Store (TCS), hosts an annual soapbox derby for headquarters and distribution center employees, and chili cook-offs at all locations. On Valentine’s Day, retail store employees get love letters, gifts, and hugs.
A Great Workplace Isn’t Just About Perks
In addition to perks, great workplaces offer employees equitable compensation, training, and opportunities to grow. They also offer employees a chance to give back by doing service work in the community, something Millennials find especially appealing.
“How an organization shows up in the community is a demonstration of their impact, that they’re living their values, and doing something that makes a difference,” Saxena says.
At The Container Store, full-time retail employees earn salary and bonuses of more than $48,000 a year, well over the U.S. retail industry average annual wage of $21,390, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. New employees at the company’s 79 retail locations get 263 hours of training during their first year — a rarity at a time when employers in a variety of industries have cut back on job-related learning.
Employees also have the flexibility to leave work early to take care of a family member if they need to. “We hire great people and trust they’ll get their work done,” says Audrey Robertson, The Container Store’s vice president of cultural programs and community relations. “Creating a high level of trust between employee and company is one thing that drives our culture.”
Great When Times Are Good … And Tough
At great workplaces, culture doesn’t evaporate at the first sign of financial trouble. In January, The Container Store’s stock dropped 40% after the company announced an unexpected loss of 4 cents a share on slower-than-expected sales for the quarter ended Nov. 28. The company says it’s working on “strategic initiatives” meant to improve financials in the coming year. While it does, management has said it may re-institute a freeze on salaries and 401(k) retirement savings plan matches that the company put in place during the worst of the recession. But The Container Store hasn’t cut pay, perks or its commitment to training. Instead, the company has trimmed marketing and other costs to leave pay untouched, Robertson said. “Just like you do in your mom or dad says we have to tighten the belt and look under every rock to find ways to realize savings, we do that together as a company,” she says.
The Container Store’s dedication to its workforce in good times and bad has paid off in its ability to attract and retain employees. The company averages 110 applications for every job opening, and its employee ranks include former Wall Street bankers, MBAs, professional ballerinas, doctors, lawyers, and teachers. Despite ongoing financial challenges, in the past year voluntary turnover for full-time employee was a low 8%. What’s more, employee referrals accounted for fully 30% of all new hires at The Container Store.
Being a great workplace even in tough times is crucial to sustainable success. And that great culture has little to do with the common conception of a perks-focused workplace.
“We get calls all the time from companies that want a magic checklist of programs and recognition events” that will help them become a great workplace, Robertson says. That approach means they fail to see the point, she says. “It goes back to looking at each individual employee and making sure their fundamental needs are being met.”
Ed Frauenheim and Kim Peters are director of research and content and executive vice president, respectively, at Great Place to Work, the longtime research partner for Fortune’s annual list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For and other best workplaces lists.
See the full list of this year’s best employers in the U.S. at fortune.com/best-companies, where you can also find job searching tips, career advice, and secrets from recruiters on how to get hired.


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Attracted by the astonishing increase in the Chinese cheese market size and consumer consumption, more dairy firms have made strategic layouts on cheese production. Currently, cheese stick is the most welcomed cheese product type in China.
Flourishing cheese market size and consumer consumption in China
According to Euromonitor, the cheese shipment volume in China has surged from 140,000 tons to 250,000 tons during 2017-2021. The cheese retail sales have risen noticeably from RMB 5.2 billion to RMB 13.1 billion in the same period. In the next five years (from 2021), the compound growth rate of both the cheese shipment volume and the retail sales will maintain double-digit growth, far above the world average. The shipment volume was estimated to reach 270,000 tons in 2022 and 320,000 tons in 2023, and the retail sales were expected to come up at RMB 14.3 billion in 2022 and RMB 16.3 billion in 2023.1
Although the average cheese consumption in China is far below many western countries as well as Japan and Korea, it has significantly increased from 80g/person/year in 2017 to 130g/person/year in 2021.2 According to the statistics from United States Department of Agriculture, the total cheese consumption in China also grew from 155,000 metric tons in 2019 to 194,000 metric tons in 2021. A decline occurred in 2022 (175,000 metric tons) due to the negative impact from COVID-19 recurrence in China.3 At the 2022 China Cheese Development Summit Forum, the Dairy Association of China released an action plan, proposing that the national cheese production would reach 500,000 tons, and the national cheese retail market size would exceed RMB 30 billion by 2025. Interested in the potential cheese market and cheese demand, more dairy firms have made strategic layout on Chinese cheese market.
Dairy enterprises’ striving for the Chinese cheese market
Dairy firms have made substantial actions to scramble for the Chinese cheese market in recent years. The two dairy giants, Mengniu and Yili, have made earlier trials in cheese market. With the potential of the market having been noticed by more dairy companies, more investment has been flowed into the market. The following is the list of some representative financial events in the cheese market:
Yili acquired Westland, the second-largest dairy company in New Zealand, to enrich its goat milk and cheese product line and resources.
Mengniu invested RMB 287 million to acquire 5% equity of Milkground in 2020, one of the current top cheese brands in China. In 2022, Mengniu enlarged its investment and held 35% shares of Milkground.
Junlebao acquired cheese enterprise Sikeqi Food Technology Co., Ltd. With the support of Sikeqi’s cheese R&D team, Junlebao hoped to enter the top echelons of cheese brands within 5 years and to found a cheese factory with an annual output value of approximately RMB 1 billion by the end of 2022.
Ausnutria acquired 50% equity of Amalthea Group, a Dutch sheep cheese company, with 18.4 million euros in cash.
Bel Group, a French cheese manufacturer, acquired 70% equity of Shandong Junjun Cheese Co., Ltd.
High market concentration of cheese brands and diversified cheese stick products
The current cheese market in China is dominated by leading enterprises, among which Milkground and Milkana respectively accounted for 28% and 24% market share.2 The current products on the cheese market can be categorised as original cheese and processed cheese. Original cheese is generally served in restaurants. Processed cheese is usually served as snack. With market size reaching RMB 10 billion in 2022, nowadays processed cheese is better welcomed in China due to the higher suitability of its taste to Chinese consumers and the promotion of leading brands. 1
Processed cheese products include cheese stick, cheese slice, cheese strip, etc. Cheese stick is the most popular one, which was first launched by Milkana, but was popularised by Milkground. Presently, promoted by the increasingly intensive market competition, dairy enterprises have rolled out a wide range of cheese sticks with distinctive features.
Miaofei released the zero-sucrose cheese stick.
Milkana launched a cheese stick product with strawberry fillings.
Milkground unveiled a cheese stick product which can be stored in room temperature. Since most of the previous cheese stick products should be preserved at low temperature, the cheese stick launched by Milkground created more opportunities for the cheese market.
Mengniu rolled out a type of cheese stick with 6 times calcium content of ordinary milk and decrease in sugar and salt. Cheese stick with high-content calcium is a common type of cheese stick products that dairy companies are eager to release. Milkground, Dr.Cheese, Yili, etc. have also launched similar products. The monthly sales of Milkground, Dr.Cheese and Yili’s high-content cheese sticks have reached 20,000 plus, 10,000 plus and 10,000 plus, respectively.
Future innovation in flavours and functions
In terms of innovation, two trends are obvious in cheese products. As most cheese products are served as snacks, creating new flavours would be one of the main trends in the future. At present, there are flavours like combined fruits, vanilla, chocolate, etc. Dairy enterprises are supposed to develop more unique flavours to attract various consumers. In addition, the firms can launch limited editions in different seasons, for instance, cherry flavour in spring, honey peach flavour in summer and creamy flavour in autumn.
Cheese is well-known for its high nutrition, especially calcium and protein. Adding additional new nutrients in cheese products is another popular trend of innovation, which will probably attract more consumers. Probiotics, taurine and dietary fiber are currently popular nutrients that can be added to products. In the future, the market is expected to see more cheese products with distinctive functions.

domain: news


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Will the expected VAT increase in January catch UK retailers unawares again? It may do, but there may actually be a delayed response in the fashion sector, believes Sam Jackson, chief executive at Prologic.
Dominic Potter, a former director of Prologic, is to head up the UK operations of fashion software specialist Momentis as it prepares to drive growth among self-sourcing apparel retailers and wholesalers.
UK clothing retailer Hobbs implemented Prologic's Fashion Line Merchandising system during 2011, in a move that led to improved performance and time savings, combined with fewer stock shortages.
Retailer Heidi Klein, which sells holiday apparel ranging from bikinis and sunhats to flip-flops and kaftans, is using Prologic’s CIMS fashion business system to support the company’s recent rapid growth.
The latest version of the CIMS multi-channel trading platform from fashion software firm Prologic is said to deliver "significant" performance benefits at a lower cost.
Optimism and hope has returned to the UK fashion industry, according to a new survey, with more than half of respondents predicting rising sales in 2010.
More than half the UK fashion companies surveyed recently by a technology provider predicted their sales would increase next year compared to this year, with many investing back into e-commerce.
Women’s fashion chain East has upgraded its multi-channel business system to implement improvements to its critical path, reporting, product management and allocation and replenishment processes.
UK-based fashion and lifestyle brand Ted Baker has implemented the latest version of Prologic’s CIMS multi-channel fashion business software in a bid to boost its allocation and replenishment processes.
The latest release of Prologic’s CIMS fashion business system delivers a new consumer eCommerce platform, integrated multi-channel gift cards and major enhancements to its merchandising tools.
Women’s fashion retailer Internacionale has placed a GBP1.3m (US$1.9) order with fashion business systems provider Prologic for 450 new touch-screen EPoS terminals across 150 stores nationwide.
Fashion brand Fat Face has gone live with the latest version of Prologic CIMS fashion business software.
- What the EU-Vietnam trade deal means for duties
- Ultimate frontier Myanmar uplifts Bogart Lingerie
- US apparel retailers' January 2016 sales roundup
- US apparel import growth led by Bangladesh
- Esquel backs Chinese Sea Island cotton production
- Sears looks to lift apparel via sourcing changes
- Direct sourcing helps M&S narrow the gap with Next
- Eco-friendly garment factory opens in Bangladesh
- Clothing and sports chains in activewear battle
- Nike accelerates digital strategy with new hire
- Southeast Asia strategic sourcing review – a focus on Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar
- Wearable technology: The future market potential for smart garments and e-textiles
- Global market review of denim and jeanswear – forecasts to 2021
- Practical Price Negotiation
- Wearable Technology Market by Product, Application, Type, & Geography - Global Forecast to 2020


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FDA: Class I Recall for Medtronic’s Pipeline Flex and Pipeline Flex With Shield Technology
The delivery system of the devices, which treat intracranial aneurysm, could fracture during stent implantation.
Medtronic is recalling two of its products—the Pipeline Flex and the Pipeline Flex with Shield Technology, both embolization devices for the treatment of intracranial aneurysm—due to reports that their guidewire-based delivery system might fracture during stent implantation. The US Food and Drug Administration has deemed it a Class I recall, the most serious type.
“Fractured pieces of the delivery system could be left inside the patient’s brain bloodstream, and this or the attempts made to retrieve the fractured pieces, can make the patient’s condition worse. This can also cause other serious adverse health consequences such as continued blockage of blood vessels, stroke, and death,” the FDA warned yesterday in its announcement.
However, the agency said, there is no risk to patients whose permanent flow-diverting stents have already been implanted.
Between November 1, 2019, and March 1, 2020, the FDA received 50 reports regarding the issue; these include 10 injuries and one death.
Medtronic sent out an Urgent Medical Device Recall Notice on February 24, 2020, to healthcare professionals, urging them to not use affected products and to return them to the company. The list of affected product codes can be found in the FDA’s announcement.
Adverse reactions or quality problems with the devices can be sent to the agency’s MedWatch reporting program.
US Food and Drug Administration. Medtronic recalls Pipeline Flex embolization devices due to risk of device fracture. Published on: March 30, 2020. Accessed on: March 31, 2020.


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The World Riichi Championship has announced the dates of its anticipated second international tournament. The 2017 World Riichi Championship will be held at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 4th-8th. There aren’t many details beyond that yet, though they have mentioned that there will be room packages available with registration once it is open. Entry fees and qualifications are still an outstanding question.
Anyone interested in staying updated or showing support for the major event, the first of its kind to be hosted in North America, can join the WRC mailing list.


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Walmart has begun closing more than a dozen stores in major cities in recent months, the latest being four locations in Chicago.
Located in the Chathem, Kenwood, Lakeview and Little Village neighborhoods, the four Walmart stores are part of a list of 19 closings in 11 states and Washington, D.C., slated for this year, reported Business Insider. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported job cuts at the retail giant's e-commerce fulfillment centers in Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida and New Jersey, impacting over 2,000 workers.
The nation's largest employer said Tuesday the Chicago stores have collectively been losing tens of millions of dollars annually and have not been profitable since the first of the four opened almost 17 years ago. Walmart also said it tried several different business strategies to improve the performance at the locations, including investing $70 million in recent years.
"Unfortunately, these efforts have not materially improved the fundamental business challenges our stores are facing," the company said in a statement, adding that the stores will close for good on Sunday.
Walmart will still have four locations operating in Chicago after the Sunday closings, but the company said those remaining stores "face the same business difficulties." Closing four stores this week gives the surviving stores the best possible chance to remain open long-term, Walmart said.
"Major economic loss to our region"
"The decision to close a store is never easy," the company said. "The impact is greater than just closing a building. It affects people — people who work in, shop in and live in communities near our stores — and we never take that lightly."
The Walmart closings don't stop in the Windy City. Walmart closed two locations in Portland, Oregon, last month due to poor financial performance. Walmart also closed one location each in Milwaukee and Washington, D.C., citing the same reasons, though it did not disclose exactly how much money the locations have been losing.
Walmart this month also plans to shutter a location in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn, Minnesota. City Manager Reginald Edwards called the move a "devastating and a major economic loss to our region."
All told, Walmart plans to close 19 underperforming stores this year, including in Atlanta and Honolulu, Business Insider reported. CEO Doug McMillon told CNBC in December that Walmart could also close stores after a historic rise in thefts at certain locations.
The pending Chicago closures frustrated customers in the area, many of whom said Walmart was more than a place to buy food. The location in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood also contained a health center and a job skills and placement academy.
"We need the opportunity to shop in our neighborhood instead of having to drive so far away," shopper Cassandra Walker told CBS Chicago. "I hope our new mayor has something in mind [for the building] and it can be better — especially in our neighborhood."
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- The growth of the scene should go as far as 2,000+ new startups created each year by 2020, and job creation from these entrepreneurs go from 65-75k as of today to 250-300k by 2020.
- Bangalore(now Bengaluru) and the New Delhi area account for 28per cent and 24per cent of the startups in India, although emerging scenes pop up around the country, from Mumbai to Hyderabad, Pune or Chennai.
- While the Indian startup ecosystem is blooming like never before, history was never the same.
- The Major Sectors While major sectors such as e-commerce are worried about provisions in proposed laws and regulations, other entrepreneurs ranging from cryptocurrency to online pharma are concerned that a wave of legislation — some implemented and others at various stages of consideration — will trip up India’s ascendant startup scene.
- Launched in 2016, the Startup India initiative promotes and assists entrepreneurship by mentoring, nurturing and facilitating startups throughout their life cycle
Here’s What the Government has to offer to the Startups
25 March 2019 1:48 AM GMT
India is undoubtedly one of the hottest markets for start-ups and its investors were the ones who gave it the growth potential.


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The gradual demise of Lord & Taylor is finally coming to an end.
America’s oldest department store, which has been struggling for decades, will close its remaining 14 stores, furthering the liquidation process that began months ago.
WWD first reported Lord & Taylor would liquidate on March 31 in a story indicating that the venerable department store fired most of its executives, including the president, buyers, assistant buyers down to the clerical staff, at the headquarter offices in Brookfield Place in lower Manhattan. Sources said at the time that store operations and finance executives were retained to enable a liquidation, which couldn’t be orchestrated until the coronavirus subsided and stores could reopen.
But even earlier, L&T began downsizing, when the historic Lord & Taylor flagship on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan closed for good in January 2019. When that happened, it was presumed by many consumers that the entire business shut down, though the company kept reminding shoppers that branch stores and the web site still were in business. Around that time, the company cited plans to shutter up to 10 other locations, reducing the chain from 48 to 38 locations.
Founded in 1826, Lord & Taylor was once among the most fashionable stores in North America, and was known for fostering American design talent and as the go-to destination for dresses for all occasions. There was a patriotic spirit associated with the store, which for many years at its Fifth Avenue flagship played the national anthem on the broadcast system just as it swung open its doors to awaiting shoppers.
In recent years, Lord & Taylor did sustain itself with some healthy performing suburban branches and incessant price promoting. Yet its business overall was tough. The store failed to change with the times, had a reputation for being “your grandma’s store” that it could never shake, and was handicapped by being a Northeast regional department store that lacked the buying power of national chains.
In addition, the chain never developed the digital capabilities to rival those of competitors.
Once the 11-story, 650,000-square-foot Manhattan flagship closed, the writing was on the wall. The flagship for too long experienced noticeably weak traffic, especially compared to nearby Macy’s four blocks away, and Saks Fifth Avenue, 10 blocks north. It also felt stranded, being blocks away from the hubbub of Herald Square, and too far south of 42nd Street to capture enough Midtown pedestrian traffic.
A year ago, L&T was sold by the Hudson’s Bay Co. to Le Tote for $75 million. On Aug. 2, 2020, Le Tote and its Lord & Taylor division, further hampered by the pandemic, filed for bankruptcy, derailing plans to integrate the Le Tote subscription rental services and invest in the department store’s online business. It’s possible the L&T online business lives on through a sale of the intellectual property, though that remains to be seen.
This month, Le Tote had 24 L&T stores in liquidation mode, and now the remaining 14 locations will be liquidated, too. The liquidation is being led by a joint venture of Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers.
“While we are still entertaining various opportunities, we believe it is prudent to simultaneously put the remainder of the stores into liquidation to maximize value of inventory for the estate while pursuing options for the company’s brands,” Ed Kremer, Lord & Taylor’s chief restructuring officer, said in a statement.


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Bundle Africa, a cryptocurrency social payments platform backed by Binance, has launched its iOS application.
The exchange announced the news in a June 9th tweet, revealing its iOS application’s successful launch.
Then follow us on Google News!
The iOS app comes five weeks after Bundle Africa’s initial launch on the Google Play Store. The Nigerian based application allows users to buy bitcoin, binance coin, ethereum, and binance USD with Naira.
Purchasing these cryptocurrencies on Bundle can be done through bank cards, bank transfers, and mobile money opening up crypto payments to more users.
Bundle Africa received positive reviews after its launch, being covered by several tech and crypto news sites, with a focus on the project’s founder Yele Boadamsi, a former Director at Binance Labs and funding from Binance.
The new project adds to other Binance’s backed African projects like Bitsika, YellowCard, Xend, and Raise. Further, Bundle is set to expand to other regions like Ghana very soon.
Have you used the Bundle app on iOS? Share your experience with us in the comments section below. Remember to join us on Telegram to get the latest cryptocurrency updates.
The post Binance Backed Platform – Bundle Africa Launches iOS Application appeared first on BlockNewsAfrica.
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Electric vehicle (EV) chargepoint company Bonnet have announced a partnership with leading parcel delivery company DPD. The collaboration will provide DPD’s growing number of UK electric vehicle drivers with access to Bonnet’s charging app.
This will help to make public charging more efficient for DPD drivers through standardised costing and reliability around working chargepoints. Bonnet will help facilitate DPD’s ‘clean, green delivery’ mission, especially with its aim to become the largest all-electric delivery fleet in the UK and the most sustainable delivery company.
DPD has ambitious growth and investment plans for a greener delivery network. Earlier this year it announced a deal with Ford for an additional 1,000 E-Transit vans for its UK deliveries.
The parcel delivery firm has already confirmed it plans to have over 3,000 electric vehicles on the road in the UK this year, By 2023, it plans to have 5,000, when it will be delivering to 30 towns and cities using all-electric vehicles.
Just last month, DPD announced all-electric delivery status for 10 towns and cities and confirmed plans for additional five ‘green’ towns. Currently, all of DPD’s deliveries in Oxford are carried out using electric vehicles.
Patrick Reich, Bonnet CEO and founder, said: “We are super excited to be partnering with DPD as they establish the UK’s largest all-electric delivery fleet. DPD is committed to sustainable development, and on the cusp of significant scale up of its EV fleet.
“This marries with Bonnet’s mission to make public charging simpler and equitable for everyone that wants to switch to EVs. The app also ensures DPD drivers have real-time information on chargepoint availability at their fingertips. It’s fantastic to see DPD’s vision and transition at scale. Together we’ll make quieter, greener, cleaner cities a reality.”
Olly Craughan, DPD UK head of sustainability, said: “We are delighted to add Bonnet to our all-electric programme. The app will complement our own charging infrastructure and help our EV drivers access the public charging network in a timely and efficient way, whenever they need it.
“We are racing ahead with the decarbonisation of our delivery fleet. Within the next 18 months we will go from 10 UK towns and cities served by an all-electric DPD fleet, to 30, and more than double our EV fleet. Bonnet will help us keep those vans moving and delivering clean and green for customers.”


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Broadcom has unveiled a chip that could give mobile devices faster connections using Wi-Fi.
The BCM4335 is the first mobile chip based on the latest 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard.
Branded as ‘5G Wi-Fi,’ the specification speeds Wi-Fi connections up to three times the current standard. The 802.11ac specification also improves range so data can be transferred at a higher rate over a longer distance.
By putting a chip based on this standard into a mobile phone, tablet or ultrabook, can give a better experience to users streaming video or transferring files over Wi-Fi connections.
Due to the standard allowing the same amount of data to complete its transfer in less time, battery life is conserved. Broadcom claims devices using the chip will be six times more efficient.
The first chips for routers and laptops were introduced to the market in the second quarter of 2012, but now Broadcom’s focus is on the mobile market.
"Broadcom introduced the industry's first 5G Wi-Fi chips earlier this year and has continued to deliver on an aggressive roll-out of solutions to power the entire ecosystem of wireless products,” said Michael Hurlston, senior vice-president and general manager of wireless connectivity at Broadcom.
“Today, we're the only chip vendor powering the next generation of routers, access points and client devices currently on shelves. The BCM4335 is the perfect mobile complement to these 5G Wi Fi products, allowing smartphones and tablets the full benefit of the technology at both ends of the wireless connection."
The chip is already with early access customers for testing and feedback, but the company expected the BCM4335 to go into full production in the first quarter of 2013.


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C.Peter Timmer, one of the world’s pre-eminent agricultural economists and a leading expert on food policy, is a non-resident fellow at the Centre for Global Development. Now retired from teaching, he is the Thomas D.Cabot Professor of Development Studies, emeritus, at Harvard University.
Together with UK professor Michael Lipton, he has won the 2012 Leontief Award, a prize designed to recognise outstanding contributions to economic theory that address contemporary realities and support just and sustainable societies.
Food prices have been on a sharp rise in Viet Nam. What would you suggest the country should do to improve the situation?
The rise has been real in the sense that consumers had to pay the higher prices.
My impression is that prices of rice in Viet Nam are gradually being aligned with prices in the world market.
The recent Thai policies complicate our expectations about what should happen to rice prices globally, with Thailand pushing prices up by restricting exports, but the re-entry of India into the world market suggests that prices should drop.
There is no way Vietnamese prices for rice in domestic markets will be higher than prices in world markets, except for very short periods.
Is there a chance of a possible food crisis that the Vietnamese poor will have to face?
It’s very clear that if high prices trickle down to farmers and farmers are producing a surplus for the market, that should benefit them.
But the big question is what happens to poor urban consumers and rice-deficient rural households if rice prices stay high. Those people are hurt by the high rice prices. Most of the people we call “very poor” – bottom 10 or 15 per cent of earners – are very vulnerable to high prices.
If you’re just asking if Viet Nam will be better off or worse off…on average, Viet Nam is better off. But clearly there are important groups of people who are much worse off.
I do not see this as a “crisis” though, which suggests it is happening suddenly. Instead, this is a problem of chronic poverty and we need to find sustainable sources of higher incomes for these rural households.
Why does it seem that farmers have not benefited much from the rise in food prices?
When world prices go up, farmers actually do not see very much of the price increase, even though consumers see it very quickly.
Where is the money going? It is going into the marketing system which turns out to be inefficient and non-competitive.
That has to be an important area that governors think about – new policies to make food marketing systems more efficient so that when consumers are paying high prices, farmers will get high prices too.
We do not have an effective connection between farmers and consumers right now in Viet Nam. That’s a problem we need to fix.
This is a problem all over Asia. There are examples in China, Malaysia and Thailand that Viet Nam can examine and learn from, so that we don’t have to make all the mistakes ourselves.
Viet Nam has seen more and more shoppers bypass traditional markets to buy food at supermarkets as the result of inflation. Is the rise of modern supply chains a good sign for the country?
In many ways, the emergence of supermarkets in Viet Nam can be seen as a positive trend, as their supply chains tend to be more efficient, safer and quality controlled.
The problem I see is that small farmers have a difficult time meeting the quality and safety standards and so the transaction costs of buying from individual small farmers are quite high.
Some kind of collective institution may be needed to help small farmers remain viable suppliers to supermarkets.
What should the Government do to overcome the challenge of climate change, with regard to agriculture?
This is a very big and complicated topic and no short answer is possible.
I’m sure the country is already seeing the early stages of climate change – more typhoons, more draughts and greater variability.
There are several basic things you should do to adapt your agriculture to increase its ability to survive heavier rains, more floods, more droughts, colder winters and hotter summers.
One, you perform the basic agricultural genetic research to figure out ways to make rice plants more resilient. For instance, we’ve just seen how successful the new rice variety in Eastern India is in flood conditions. It survives under water for 10 days. Hopefully 10 or 15 years from now, the rice crops will be quite resilient to the variability in weather.
The second thing you should is to make sure you have the right kinds of infrastructure in place to improve farmers’ resilience. Seriously invest in water control – not just irrigation and drainage but also flood prevention and relief. Think about what the needs will be when there are more severe floods and droughts.
Thirdly, you should think about cropping patterns that are more diversified. For instance, livestock are more resilient to flooding and climate change than crops.
In terms of your domestic food security, I think the big question for rice production in Viet Nam is what are you going to do with the so-called “micro farms” (farm households that only have 0.3-0.5ha). They are growing rice for their own food subsistence, so they don’t have the time and the land to grow higher value crops, vegetables or livestock. We need these small farms to move away from rice and expand their production in order to increase incomes.
I would hope that part of the long-term strategy is figuring out the ways to have most of rice production done on farms of between 5 and 10ha. That will take 10 to 20 years but we need to think about how the whole land system is going to change over the next generation.
I am actually pretty optimistic that Viet Nam has the capacity to be quite resilient to the changes. We should not forget that Viet Nam has always faced problems similar to those that will be presented by climate change, so the challenges are probably manageable.
It is clear that the Government in general, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in particular, are well aware of the problems facing Viet Nam. We have to keep pushing hard on the path that you have already started down.
Rice is far more common in developing countries than developed ones. Is that just a coincidence?
That’s a very interesting question. The “deep” answer is probably climate-related. It was easier to develop modern industrial societies in moderate climates, where rice does not grow well.
A decrease in rice consumption has been reported across the globe. How would you comment on that?
The whole world’s rice consumption started to decrease five or six years ago. However, it’s still increasing between 3 and 4 per cent per year in Africa, which will possibly become the world’s largest consumer of rice in 30 years. Rice consumption is also increasing a bit in Latin America.
But absolute rice consumption is already falling in Asia, where 80 per cent of rice in the world is now used up. Even Bangladesh is absolutely declining.
In Viet Nam, consumption has also started to fall in the past two years. When people’s incomes go up, they eat less rice. So rice consumption has started to go down. In that sense, it’s good news because you don’t have to worry about having to produce a lot of rice.
Do you eat rice yourself?
Yes, I eat a lot of rice, probably twice day.
In my house in California, I always have five different kinds of rice. We have organic jasmine rice, arborio rice, long-grain, medium-grain, short-grain and sushi style rice.
Rice has a high glycemic index and is pretty refined. The whole point of rice is that we use it to carry the vegetables, the salt and all flavours. — VNS


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TRAVEL MANAGEMENT NEWS
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Massive LAX Terminal Swap to Begin May 12 Travel Pulse
The nation's fifth busiest airport is about to relocate 70 airlines, including Delta Air Lines who will relocate from Terminals 5 and 6 to Terminals 2 and 3.
United Airlines Adds New Route to Buenos Aires, Boosts Bogota Flights USA Today
United will add a second route to Buenos Aires this fall, restoring one it ended in 2013.
American Airlines Is Cutting Legroom in Economy Class CNN Money
American Airlines will decrease the space between some of its economy class seats by another two inches…
United Airlines is Making These 10 Customer-service Policy Changes USA Today
The changes are being implemented in the wake of the April 9 passenger-dragging incident.
Delta Adds Helicopter Connections Between JFK And Manhattan Travel Market Report
The partnership with BLADE arranges on-demand service between its Manhattan heliport lounges and JFK.
Small Airports Get International Service USA Today
New service has spurred improvements, including added amenities and spruced-up facilities.
Alaska Air, Virgin America Relocating to T7 at JFK Travel Mole
Alaska Group carriers will join partners BA, Qantas and Icelandair.
Delta Air Lines Launching New Routes from Boston Travel Mole
Austin, KC, Jacksonville, Buffalo and Norfolk routes announced from September.
It's Time for Airlines to Stop Overselling USA Today
Bumping passengers can lead to very unintended consequences.
American Airlines, Delta Seeking More Miami-Havana Flights Travel Mole
DOT applications for seven more flights each
Airlines Expand Options for All Passengers Wall Street Journal
American Airlines and United Airlines are now offering basic economy fares that are competitive with budget airlines, while also expanding amenities for passengers who opt for more perks while flying.
SAFETY & SECURITY
European Commission Says it Won’t Require American Travelers to Get Visas NPR
The European Commission will not reinstate visa requirements for Americans who want to visit Europe, despite the European Parliament’s recent vote to end the preferential treatment over a lack of full visa reciprocity between the U.S. and all members of the European Union.
Automated TSA Screening Lanes Coming to JFK Business Traveller
Nineteen automated Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening lanes will be installed at New York’s John F Kennedy International airport by the end of this month…
US Facing Shortage of Yellow Fever Vaccine for Travelers US News
Americans who need a yellow fever shot for travel may soon have a harder time getting it.
Which Expedited Security Program Is Right for You? USA Today
The Department of Homeland Security unveiled a web page that describes the advantages each program provides and how much it costs.
TSA Releases New Guidance For Transgender Airline Passengers Travel Market Report
Responding to criticism, TSA releases video describing screening process.
Global Entry Passengers Swept Up in Travel Ban Bloomberg
U.S. citizen “Trusted Traveler” members had their privileges revoked.
Government Travel Warnings & Alerts U.S. Department of State
Click here for information on current government issued travel warnings and alerts.
TRAVELER TIPS, TRIPS & CONVENIENCE
The Truth About Jet Lag The Points Guys
No matter how experienced a traveler you are, jet lag is hard to outwit — nearly 93% of all travelers will experience it at some point, according to the American Sleep Association, and yet a cure seems as elusive as those 40 winks you were robbed of after flying from Los Angeles to London.
Concur Will Rebrand Business Travel News
Concur will change its name to SAP Concur in January.
What Should I Do If I Lose My Passport? The Points Guy
If you’re destitute and outside the country, your local embassy or consulate can help.
Delta Continues to Improve WiFi Across Its Fleet with Gogo 2Ku Technology Business Traveler
Delta now offers 100 planes with the latest Wifi option for customers.
Could Electronics Ban Spread To U.S. Domestic Flights? Travel Market Report
Currently, the U.S. rule applies to outbound flights from 10 international airports in the Middle East. What if that happens to U.S. domestic flights?
US Considers Laptop Ban on Flights from UK Buying Business Travel
UK passengers flying to the US face a ban on carrying laptops in their hand luggage. According to a report in The Times, US President Donald Trump is considering banning large electronic devices in the cabin on US-bound flights from Europe.
Enterprise Makes a Big Deal in Ireland Travel Pulse
Car rental giant acquits Dooley Car Rentals.
Amtrak Plans Major Repairs at NYC's Penn Station USA Today
Initiative will address infrastructure problems, security concerns and management of the passenger experience.
Finances, Politics Threaten California's High Speed Rail Project Travel Pulse
The state has sold more than $1 billion in bonds but money remains an issue.
InterContinental Hotels Plans to Open at MSP in Summer 2018 Minneapolis Star Tribune
Officials held a concrete hand-print ceremony on the site of the planned InterContinental hotel at Minnesota's Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The 12-story hotel is slated for completion by next summer and will feature a security checkpoint and skyway that will allow guests to cross straight to the terminal.
Westin Guests Can Now Take Spin Classes in Their Rooms Shape
The hotel chain has introduced WestinWorkout rooms, which come fully equipped with a Peloton spin bike…
Is It Illegal for a Hotel to 'Walk' a Confirmed Guest? 4Hoteliers
Whether it is the airline or our hospitality industry, do suppliers have the right to overbook? And what consequences might we be running into?
Starwood Capital Establishes New Extended-Stay Brand Business Travel News
Starwood Capital Group has launched an extended-stay brand, Uptown Suites. The company describes Uptown as an economy-priced brand with upscale amenities, including furnished lobbies with televisions and fireplaces and, in the rooms, full kitchens, electric vehicle charging stations, high-speed W-Fi and smart televisions.
Introducing the 2017 Hot List Conde Nast Traveler
In this year's Condé Nast Traveler list of the top 75 new hotel openings around the world, the U.S. and Canada lay claim to 22 hot properties, including some surprises in smaller cities.


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The former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham has emptied her closet and auctioning off now 600 pieces of clothing, where the money should go to people affected by HIV mothers.
Are you the glitz and glamor, fashion website THE OUTNET.COM worth keeping an eye out for between 20 and 25 August. In the small weeks run a special auction for the stack.
In cooperation with the support organization 'mothers2mothers' (m2m) working to decrease the infection of HIV between mothers and their babies, sells home unique 600 private garments from the former Spice Girl and current designer Victoria Beckham.
Everything from dresses star has worn on the red carpet of jewelry she received from her husband David Beckham stylish stilettos can offer during theoutnets auction.
Victoria Beckham says she made the decision to sell off his wardrobe in nødhjælpens sign after a visit to a number of HIV-infected mothers in South Africa:
- After just a few days I had been with these amazing women and heard more about the charity project from Mich (founder of m2m, Mitch Besser, ed.) And his lovely wife, Annie Lennox, it dawned on me that I wanted to do as much as I could to help, says Victoria Beckham in a statement.
According to UNAIDS , the African sub-Saharan countries most affected by HIV. In 2013 was 24.7 million people in the region infected with HIV. Out of these, 58 percent are women. In addition, live 85 percent of all HIV-infected pregnant women in sub-Saharan region.


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IT IS HARD to overstate the time that goes into calculating a consumer-price index. In America statisticians survey nearly 10,000 people every quarter, construct a sample of some 80,000 things they buy, and then monitor their prices by ringing up thousands of shops, restaurants and offices. So the hard-working boffins might be miffed to learn that the Federal Reserve thinks a better way of tracking inflation is simply to lop off the things with the biggest price swings. The result that emerges is known as “trimmed mean” inflation. As America goes through its most sustained bout of price pressure since 1990, this narrower measure is more than an academic exercise.
In August the headline consumer-price index was 5.3% higher than a year ago, according to data published on September 14th. It was the third consecutive month of inflation at roughly that pace. By contrast the trimmed-mean rate—using the Fed’s preferred measure, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index—has remained at just about 2%, in line with the central bank’s inflation target.
The gap between the headline scare and the far more subdued alternative gets to the heart of the debate about whether the current burst of inflation is transitory or persistent. Those taking the former view argue that a small number of goods and services have driven the jump in inflation, almost all traceable to pandemic-related disruptions. The price of flights, for example, soared as air travel roared back, but in August ticket prices slumped as the Delta variant of covid-19 dampened enthusiasm for travel. The trimmed index is appealing because it strips out such outliers. Jerome Powell, the Fed’s chairman, has pointed to the measure as evidence that price pressures are not yet broad-based.
There are two possible objections to using the trimmed measure. The first is that the Fed is cherry-picking, emphasising whatever inflation gauge looks most flattering. Central bankers often highlighted narrower “core” inflation in order to better capture underlying trends. In the past the Fed would point to the PCE index excluding food and energy prices. But this measure is less well-behaved this time, rising to 3.6% year-on-year in July, a three-decade high. Hence the suspicion that the trimmed mean is a handy substitute.
That, though, is unfair to the Fed. Central bankers have been tracking the trimmed measure since well before the pandemic. The Dallas Federal Reserve has published a version since 2005. A research note by Fed economists released in 2019 found that trimmed-mean gauges are less volatile than headline indices and better predictors of future price changes.
By focusing on the middle of the price pack, the trimmed mean gauge also helps reveal just how widespread price pressures truly are. (The Dallas Fed orders all items from highest price increase to the lowest, and lops off the top 31% and the lowest 24%, as judged by expenditure weights.) Trimming the mean also answers one of the standard complaints about core-inflation gauges that exclude food or energy prices—namely, that people spend so much money filling their bellies and their petrol tanks that it makes little sense to ignore these costs systematically. Food and energy are included in trimmed indices, so long as their price swings are not unusually wild.
The second objection is more damaging: that the trimmed mean is more worrying than Mr Powell would have it. Economists at the Dallas Fed say that, as a rough guide, when headline inflation exceeds the trimmed mean by one percentage point, it feeds through to about 0.25 percentage points of additional trimmed-mean inflation in a year’s time. On this basis the trimmed-mean rate is likely to hit 2.5% by the end of next year. A different trimmed mean calculated by the Cleveland Fed, which is less eager in its snipping, has already jumped, climbing to 3% from 2% at the start of the year.
However you trim, the conclusion seems clear enough. Inflation is not as bad as the headlines suggest. But price pressures are steadily spreading.


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Swancor Holding, given large demand from Europe, China and Taiwan, is expanding its production capacity for pultrusion carbon fiber plates, which are used to make blades of offshore wind turbines, according to the company.
Wistron expects revenue from car electronics to double this year. After having partnered up with three Chinese car makers including NIO, Wistron is now looking to gain more tier-1 Japanese OEM partners for new energy cars, according to David Shen, president of Wistron Smart Devices.
Delta Electronics (Thailand), the subsidiary of Taiwan-based Delta Electronics, has become the regional business headquarters and manufacturing center in India and Southeast Asia for its parent company.
Tesla's new 4680-format battery cells reportedly are facing delays as competition in the electric vehicle (EV) battery sector heats up. Taiwan-based Foxconn (Hon Hai) is clearly among those who are seeking to play a major role in the EV battery sector, having just disclosed a plan to invest in Singapore-based SES, a maker of Li-metal batteries for EVs.
Swancor Renewable Energy has disclosed it has partnered with Tien Li Offshore Wind Technology, Yeong Guan Energy Technology and J&V Energy Technology to form a Taiwan team for developing Formosa 4 and Formosa 5, two offshore wind farms in central Taiwan.
The supply of battery cells for two-wheel electric vehicles (EV) has fallen far short of demand, with suppliers seeing the visibility of customer orders strengthened to mid 2022, according to industry sources.
Rising popularity of electric vehicles (EV) has grabbed global attention. Poised to replace internal combustion engines, EVs are considered the new trend in the era of sustainability. A storm of competition ignited by Tesla, is brewing in the EV market, with traditional US and European automakers are pushing into in-house battery development and manufacturing with an aim to secure bigger cost advantages in the coming decades.
IC test interfaces that can withstand high current of up to 1,000 A and high voltage of 1,200V will see a significant surge in demand for processing high-current driver ICs and other automotive electronics needed in EV production, according to industry sources.
IKKA Holding, a Taiwan-based plastic component and module-design and manufacturing service company, has cut into the automotive supply chain in Japan, boosting its sales performance, according to company chairman Hu Hsiang-chi.
Qualcomm has just launched its Snapdragon 778G made using TSMC's 6nm process. It is expected to be more popular among midrange smartphones because of its higher price-performance ratio than the 5nm-made 780G series. Taiwan-based backend houses are now gearing up for the latest Qualcomm mobile SoC. In the car industry, business opportunities for smat auto lights are rapidly emerging, and Taiwan has a good chance of playing a major role in the sector, according the CEO of Silicon Application Corp (SAC).
Despite media reports that component shortages have hindered shipments from Tesla's Fremont Factory in the US, several Taiwan-based companies in the EV vendor's supply chian have maintained they have seen no chnages to their shipment schedules to the client, according to industry sources.
Global business opportunities for smart auto lights are emerging rapidly, and Taiwan stands a good chance to benefit significantly as a major supply source if the semiconductor, optics and AI software sectors can be effectively integrated, according to Jimmy Chen, CEO of Silicon Application Corp (SAC) Group.
Taiwan-based Swancor, dedicated to supplying materials for wind turbine blades, expects its revenues to grow significantly on price hikes starting the second quarter of the year and rapid increases in demand for carbon fiber composite materials.
The semiconductor and IT value chains in Taiwan have raised their alerts to the surging COVID cases locally, adopting work-from-home and other precautionary measures, though so far no major infections have been reported among the big companies. Barring COVID impacts, volume production for miniLED-backlit MacBook Pro devices will still have to be deferred because of issues with miniLED supply. Europe-based carmaker Stellantis is set to announce a strategic partnership with Foxconn.
China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), a LFP (lithium ferrous phosphate) battery maker reportedly in the supply chain of Tesla, has dismissed speculation about it planning to raise quotes to reflect increased materials costs.
Foxconn Technology (Hon Hai) will see only limited impact of component shortages and its EV business will advance further after entering into cooperation with US-based EV vendor Fisker, according to company chairman Young-Way Liu.
Foxconn has made another step towards developing more affordable electric vehicles. The EMS giant has just struck deals with California-based Fisker for the development of EVs with starting prices under US$30,000. Meanwhile, the global top-5 notebook brand vendors' combined shipment slipped in May due to component shortages, according to Digitimes esearch's latest figures. But ODM Quanta Computer expects its notebook shipments to stay robust in second-half 2021.
Fisker, a developer of electric vehicles (EV) and mobility solutions, has announced it has signed framework agreements with Foxconn (Hon Hai) Technology Group for joint development of EVs that will enter the market with starting prices under US$30,000, with manufacturing to start in the US from fourth-quarter 2023.


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New York state is threatening legal action against the New York Racing Association and the auction house planning to sell NYRA artwork because it claims it hasn't signed off on the sale of the equine art collection.
- Dark Bay or Brown Gelding
- Born 2009
ReRun announced it will celebrate the coming Father's Day by exhibiting various "Moneighs" created by famous sires and their progeny including; A.P. Indy and sons, Mineshaft and Rock Slide, among others.
|Artwork View Five-Cross Pedigree||Art Museum||Storm Cat|
|Slim's Secret||Desert Secret (IRE)|
No auction history found.
|Hard Not to Like|


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Yesterday, on the 1st of August, was launched a campaign “The bright color of a good cause” aimed at collecting funds for the fight against HIV / AIDS. The uniqueness of this campaign is that the donations will be carried out by ordinary people who will buy certain goods and services marked with a special symbol of a red quilt.
We, the NGO “Initiativa Pozitiva”, believe that HIV / AIDS epidemic can be stopped thanks to informing people about this issue and taking a personal part in this fight. That’s why we decided to give each of you an opportunity to contribute to this great, noble and needed cause. What do you need to do? Buy a product or use a service marked with a red ribbon that resembles a ladybug. A manufacturer will transfer to 8% of the value of a product /a service to a special account, the money from which will help people affected by the HIV / AIDS epidemic. In addition, buying a branded product / service, you get the information materials about HIV infection. After all, only through raising awareness we can reduce stigma and discrimination of people living with HIV.
All this was said at yesterday’s presentation, attended by all the participants of this action, as well as friends and partners of the organization “Initiativa Pozitiva.” The event was held at the Art Salon «molDeco», whose owner, Stella Moldoveanu, was one of the first person who decided to take an active part in the campaign. “You know, if we have such an opportunity – to inform and help – it is necessary to do it” – admitted Stella. “Especially it concerns those people who have a certain status and authority because other people can follow them and we can collect more people to help others. As for the action, this idea is perfect! After all, people kind of buy something for themselves, but at the same time they help others. ”
And here is what Sergey, the owner of the brand «Catalin Botezatu», thinks, he is also a partner of the action: “In our country we don’t talk much about this problem, we seem to pretend that it does not exist. And I am very glad that the campaign “The bright color of a good cause” was launched, maybe with its help we can spread the information about HIV and so people will no longer consider it as a plague of the 21st century. This is a common disease, everyone can get infected. We should all together start to speak at loud about it, so that our children know how to protect themselves from HIV, and what to do if the infection occurred. It is an honor for me to participate in this campaign and I am sure that our customers will be also actively involved in buying the marked products. ”
Active participation in the campaign took place already during the presentation of the campaign “The bright color of a good cause.” Especially for the event organizers have bought hand-made accessories with the image of a ladybug as a quilt. Guests could buy them and the money was collected into a transparent container. This way, in just a few hours we managed to raise a decent amount of money that will be used to help people living with HIV.


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Vancouver: Kater Technologies Inc., a Vancouver based technology company, announced that it will apply to take part in traditional ride-hailing in British Columbia following the provincial government’s announcement earlier this month.
Kater will continue to provide its current service using Kater-owned vehicles and licensed cars (Kater cars), and will add traditional ride-hailing (Kater ride-hailing) to the platform as the Provincial regulations come into effect in the Fall of 2019. Kater anticipates that its ride-hail service will launch as a service throughout BC’s main cities by the end of the year.
The addition of traditional ride-hailing to the Kater platform marks the beginning of Kater’s move towards full Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS); a fully integrated transportation system where different modes of transportation are connected through one digital platform to help move people seamlessly.
Scott Larson, CEO at Kater comments: “Kater in its current form is the foundation for a larger MaaS platform. When fully built out, the Kater intermodal platform will allow users to book a trip that incorporates numerous modes of transport; whether it be Kater vehicles, traditional ride-hailing, buses, ferries, the Skytrain, and car-sharing or bike-sharing services. We are already on a path towards this solution with the Kater app and the addition of traditional ride-hailing in September.”
Larson further elaborates, “Kater’s plan has always been to move to a traditional ride-hailing model in conjunction with our hybrid solution, once Provincial regulations allow for it.”
“One app, one ‘boarding pass’ and payment that takes you from the very first to the very last mile; this is what I believe is the future of transportation in Vancouver and in other forward-looking metropolitan cities. We’re excited to put our hat in the ring for ride-hailing as our first step towards this vision.”
Kater ride-hail drivers will use their own vehicles and will be required, as part of the regulations, to hold a Class 4 license. Kater will take safety a step further by requiring its drivers to attend a training course in person, in addition to the required criminal record checks. Kater is currently accepting applications for ride-hailing drivers and encourages interested parties to go to www.kater.com to sign-up and start the application process.
Kater looks forward to unveiling its full suite of incentives, all designed to offer its drivers a living wage, advanced safety features, and other industry-leading initiatives. More details will be announced on Kater.com in the coming weeks.


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SAN ANTONIO, Texas — NIOSA is one of the biggest parties at Fiesta, and it kicks off Tuesday in downtown San Antonio.
But there are a few changes for 2023 you should make note of.
Before you get to the gate, make sure to bring the correct type of bag if you need to carry personal items.
“We won’t be checking bags, but you need to bring a clear bag with you,” said Patti Zaiontz, the NIOSA chairman. “If you come with something, you’ll be asked to take it back to your car.”
Other items should be left at home:
“No strollers because of the crowd,” Zaiontz said. “No pets, even the boas that some people want to put around their neck and come in. We can’t have those because of the health department.”
NIOSA is celebrating 75 years. You will see some new food items from the original event including fish and chips.
“The ladies of the Conservation Society, they founded the organization and they were trying to preserve and protect historic sites in San Antonio,” Zaiontz said. “They started with the Missions and they decided that they were going to have to have fundraisers to raise money to purchase land, to purchase buildings, that were in danger of being demolished or just demolition by neglect where they’re just falling down. So they had a fall festival at Mission San Jose and they served fried fish plates.”
Find fish and chips in Irish Flats. Plus you can taste a traditional dish that was popular in the 1800s.
“We’re going to pay tribute to the Chili Queens, because that is some of the first booths we had,” Zaiontz said. “In the mid-1800s, the late 1800s, the plazas in San Antonio, like Military Plaza, Alamo Plaza, during the day were sites where the farmers and ranchers would bring their stock and sell vegetables and cattle and chickens and firewood and hay during the day. Then they would leave and go back to their farms and ranches at night and the plaza would come alive with women that would make food. They made chili primarily and stews. They would set up tables with benches and put oil cloths down on them and lanterns. Then they would feed the visitors that were coming and staying in San Antonio.”
Chili Queens will be in Haymarket. Also, look for Cluck and Wings in Main Street.
“Which will be fried chicken wings,” Zaiontz said. “That’s just your typical Americana fried chicken wing with sauces, different kinds of dipping sauces.”
You will also see a new beverage vendor, Silver Eagle beers and beverage, at NIOSA.
The way you will pay for food and drinks is different this year. There will be no wristbands.
“We are going back to good old paper coupons and that means you’ll have to have cash when you come," Zaiontz said. “There’ll be plenty of ATMs on the grounds to get cash, but all the transactions will be done in cash. The coupons will be in dollar increments. A sheet of 20 coupons is $20.”
Get discounted $20 tickets to the event at HEB. NIOSA will be held April 25-28 from 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. Tickets at the gate are $25.


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Meta has announced the return of its VR showcase (Meta Quest Gaming Showcase) on June 1st, in a Save the Date notice. The event will include new game announcements for the Meta Quest, a pre-show occurring prior, and a developer panel taking place after the showcase.
Although VR is often regarded as niche, it constitutes a significant part of the gaming industry. The popularity of headsets may differ, but the Meta Quest 2 undoubtedly stands among the top contenders. Consequently, Meta Quest 2 owners should consider marking their calendars for the showcase’s date.
The Meta Quest Gaming Showcase stands as the main VR-focused event among several events occurring this summer. Following the showcase, Summer Game Fest kicks off on June 8th, with the Xbox Games Showcase and Starfield Direct taking place on June 11th. Currently, fans anticipate a PlayStation Showcase from Sony and a significant Direct showcase from Nintendo.
It’s uncertain whether these events will happen during the busy month of June or towards the end of May. However, if they do occur, fans can look forward to announcements in the upcoming weeks ahead. We”ll for sure keep you posted right here on GLN and on our social media outlets too.
The Date & Time It Starts
Scheduled for June 1st at 10 am PT/1 pm ET, the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase will be accessible on Twitch, Facebook, YouTube, and Meta Horizon Worlds. Touted as the “largest celebration of the depth and breadth of content across the Meta Quest platform yet,” the company confirms a 40-minute main showcase, hosted by Oculus Studios Executive Producer Ruth Bram. The main event will feature new VR game announcements, first looks at gameplay for upcoming titles, significant updates to existing games, and more.
The pre-show starts at 5:45 pm BST (British Summer Time) in the UK and 9:45 am PT/12:45 pm ET, highlighting game updates and debut trailers before the actual Showcase. Following the main event, a post-show developer roundtable will discuss some of the forthcoming games. Specific details about games and attendees will remain undisclosed until the Showcase takes place.
About The Author
Stephen is the proud owner of a popular gaming news website GLN, where he provides the latest updates on everything gaming-related. With a passion for video games that dates back to his childhood, Stephen is dedicated to sharing his knowledge and expertise with fellow gamers around the world.


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By: Shukria Kohistani
KABUL: The country’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce has said that up to 40 tons of watermelon have been exported to Azerbaijan, but yet the price is decreasing in domestic markets.
The government of Afghanistan has cooperated with the private sector to send the first huge batch of watermelon to that country, Ajmal Hamid Abdul Rahimzay told reporters.
After the unprecedented fall of the watermelon campaigns for its price increase started in many parts of the country.
The Kabul University has also conducted a luncheon in which the students have been invited for eating watermelon, a campaign the students and the university leadership conducted to support the domestic products prices.
President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has also ordered the fresh fruit to be lodged in the menu of some army corps of the country.
But it seems the efforts are no longer cooperative and the watermelon is still very low compared to the past.
Growers have not collected incomes from the sale of their watermelon as much as they could meet their expenses.
A kilo of watermelon is now sold in 1.5 Afghani in Nimroz, 3 Afghanis in Herat, while reaching to the Kabul markets it sold at five Afghanis.
A watermelon contractor, Sardar Mohammad said sometimes he gives some additional money to the sellers as their car rent while returning their homes, as they sell their watermelon in the lowest prices that couldn’t meet their expenses.
The acting chairman of chamber of commerce and industries, Khanjan Alokozay said a solution should be sought for the watermelon inside the country, as Pakistan imposed 200% on the country’s watermelon, India 150%, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan 200% when dispatching to Azerbaijan.
In other provinces of the country, such as Helmand, Nimruz, Kunduz and Nangarhar, yielding watermelon have been started, with a fear to sell them in the lowest prices with an undeniable loss to the farmers.
Alokozay said the country’s horticulture and agriculture were going on with no effective plan, and in the lack of market, the prices will fall and the growers will suffer heavy loss.
The watermelon growers ask the government to provide them with a proper market for their products to may not face such irreparable losses.


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Published on Thursday, February 24, 2011
Take that, Hoseasons
Foreign holiday online travel agent sunshine.co.uk has had a pop at domestic operator Hoseasons.
The website recently published a survey which it said showed that half of the respondents didn’t think a holiday in Britain counted as a proper break.
Hoseasons, whose brands include Hoseasons, Cottages4you, English Country Cottages and Blakes, hit back, dismissing the report that staycations were a thing of the past with figures for the first six weeks of the year showing that the UK will remain popular in 2011.
It said bookings for Cottages4you are up 11% on 2009 and 10% on 2010, while Hoseasons lodges and parks are up nearly 9% on 2009 and 7% on 2010.
But Sunshine’s managing director Chris Brown said: “We can imagine that whilst Geoff Cowley of Hoseasons was putting together his quote talking up UK holidays, he had the grey and damp British weather as his motivational backdrop.
“With warm and sunny overseas holidays often costing less than wet and rainy UK holidays we can see why a big brand is using the desperate measure of attacking a rival to try and attract customers.
“We at sunshine.co.uk suggest that Mr Cowley concentrates on his own business rather than focusing on ours. Aside from that, the poll was aimed at general holidaymakers, not our own customers, which means that even though we do not offer UK breaks, it was not biased in any way.”
by Dinah Hatch


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Following hot on the heels of ‘real ale’ and whole foods came ‘real meat’ and the people of Petersfield were tucking into it in a big way.
Brothers John and James Morgan turned their Lavant Street butchers’ shop over to only naturally produced meat and believed they were setting the trend for the whole of the meat trade.
‘The response from the public has been absolutely tremendous,’ said John.
‘Sales are up by a third and people just keep coming back for more.
‘All our customers tell us that it tastes just like it used to in the old days.
‘Red meat consumption has fallen during the past few years because people do not like all the chemicals and hormones used in food production these days. This is a way to combat that.
‘All butchers will have to go this way in the future.
‘Public demand will see to that,’ he added.
The meat was supplied by two farmers who started the Real Meat Company.
None of their meat or meat products contained any artificial chemicals, and no water injected to ‘bulk-up’ or add weight.
Antibiotics, growth promoters and hormones – usually given routinely to farm animals – were not used.


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Perrigo Launches OTC Viagra Rival In UK
UK Private-Label Generic Sildenafil Will Compete With Viagra Connect
Perrigo is launching in the UK an OTC sildenafil generic to compete with Pfizer's erectile dysfunction drug Viagra Connect.
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Perrigo doesn't want to miss out on the opportunity presented by CBD to offer consumers a new type of self-care product, according to the firm’s managing director, UK & Ireland, and International vice president, Neil Lister.
Perrigo "walked away a little bit" from "a model that worked beautifully," says CEO Murray Kessler at investor conference, "In essence, all we've done over the last year is to put back in place the model that worked so well."
Mental health is the focus of three OTC launches in Germany: melatonin-based Lunalaif sleep aids from Bayer Vital; a basket of probiotic-vitamin combinations from P&G; and a VMS product aimed at digital professionals from Hevert.


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Retaliation For Trying To Go Non-GMO: Big Ag’s Many Friends In The MSM Take Potshots At Chipotle
It was a first in an industry where the bottom line is always the most important thing, back in 2013 when Chipotle announced that it would be sourcing all its ingredients from growers who were certified to only grow non-genetically modified crops. For a fast food chain to make such an announcement was tantamount to heresy: don’t these hippies understand that if it is cheaper, it is better?
In other words, being better for profits is the only kind of better that exists in the mind of shareholders and stock-watchers.
And of course there was and always will be an element of showmanship and marketing to such schemes; they are after all a business, and surely they felt they could make such a change without breaking the bank. And no doubt their marketing people had been watching trends among consumers showing that people increasingly want clean, non-GMO food. They surely calculated that such a change would have a positive effect on their image and thus their sales.
But the powers-that-be don’t appreciate people rocking the boat, especially not people who are supposed to be on their team–other corporations. Enter the mainstream media stories illustrating how horrible Chipotle is.
First the fast-casual chain had to grapple with E. coli and salmonella outbreaks which sent its stock plummeting and forced an intervention by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Then the money press gleefully jumped all over a lawsuit filed by a group of former Chipotle employees alleging labor violations such as being forced to work off the clock and having their time cards changed retroactively to lower labor costs. But it was the delighted tone of most mainstream financial news coverage that was the real giveaway here.
“This case,” wrote one reporter for CNN Money, “regardless of the eventual ruling, chips away at the second pillar of Chipotle’s carefully constructed image. In the same way that ‘Food with Integrity’ doesn’t mean much following a months-long food safety scandal, Chipotle’s employee-friendly policies are undermined by these allegations. With customers already having one good reason to avoid the company’s restaurants, this lawsuit will only make Chipotle’s recovery more difficult. The financial impact will be minor. It’s the additional blemish on the brand that will sting the most.”
Oh my, you can just smell the smug rolling off the page, can’t you?
And such sincere tut-tutting concern over Chipotle’s image, when it is clear that the writer couldn’t be happier to see those uppity anti-GMO hippies get taken down a peg.
Indeed, some have speculated that the entire E. coli outbreak at Chipotle was manufactured, bioterrorism unleashed on the chain in retaliation for daring to go against the GMO party line.
The strain of E. coli that was found in their restaurants was exceedingly rare, for one thing, E. coli 026 to be exact. Not only that, despite a multi-state FDA investigation spanning months, they were never able to pinpoint the source of the infection.
Think about that next time you hear about an E. coli outbreak linked to a type of lettuce or sprouts or fruit. They ALWAYS figure out where it came from, there is always a source.
So how did this rare, sometimes deadly form of E. coli find its way into Chipotles across the country?
Even if there is no solid proof the dark army of pro-GMO soliders deliberately poisoned Chipotle customers, there is no doubt that the MSM and its corporate patrons were relieved when Chipotle’s anti-GMO crusade had the wind knocked out of its sails.
After all we can’t have the peasants deciding what’s in their best interests on their own; that’s for the corporate masters to decide.


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Sunnyvale, CA — June 18, 2020 — ThoughtSpot, the leader in search & AI-driven analytics, today announced that it has been named the FY2020 Technology Partner of the Year - Innovator award winner by Snowflake, the cloud data platform. ThoughtSpot was recognized for the company’s achievements as part of Snowflake’s ecosystem, helping joint customers arm business users and other nontechnical professionals with the ability to analyze data through a simple search interface. Following this recognition, ThoughtSpot has also achieved elite partner status for Snowflake, signifying substantial value and growth for the ThoughtSpot platform in the Snowflake ecosystem.
As organizations in every industry are moving to the cloud as part of their digital transformation strategy, they are increasingly finding the need to bring data from the cloud to employees throughout the business. Recent research from Harvard Business Review found that 72% of organizations empowering those on the frontlines with access to data are seeing gains in productivity, 69% in customer satisfaction, and 67% in product and service quality. Over the past year since announcing their partnership, Snowflake and ThoughtSpot have made significant progress to empower business users with simple, yet powerful search and AI-driven analytics to harness the power of their data in the cloud.
As part of these efforts, ThoughtSpot has launched Embrace to enable joint customers to search and query data directly within Snowflake’s single, integrated platform. To make it simple for users to experience the power of ThoughtSpot and Snowflake together, ThoughtSpot has integrated the ThoughtSpot platform into the Snowflake Partner Connect program, giving users the ability to try ThoughtSpot immediately in their instance of Snowflake.
The companies have also built and delivered integrated solutions for critical use cases, including:
IoT to help businesses uncover deeper insights, drive innovation, and discover untapped opportunities from IoT and machine data stored in Snowflake
Procurement, enabling companies to scale to massive volumes of spend, supply chain, and logistics data and get insights to maximize the buying power of every dollar
Customer 360, helping marketers and sales teams fully understand the complete customer journey to improve customer acquisition and retention
COVID-19, bringing critical data sources such as tracking, testing, and case rates data from Starschema together for healthcare professionals, epidemiologists, and policymakers to understand and mitigate the spread of COVID-19
“There’s a tectonic shift happening in technology. As enterprises move to the cloud to build more flexible, agile businesses, they require new means to extract the intelligence in their cloud and push it to decision makers at every level of their organization,” said Seann Gardiner, SVP of Business Development, ThoughtSpot. “By partnering with Snowflake, we’re able to bring innovations to market that enterprises need as they seek to build and leverage the new cloud native, AI-driven data stack required to compete in the modern business world.”
“We are honored to announce ThoughtSpot as Snowflake’s Technology Partner of the Year - Innovator,” Snowflake VP Partner and Alliances, Colleen Kapase said. “ThoughtSpot’s search and AI-driven analytics platform demonstrates incredible innovation and delivers deep value to the Snowflake ecosystem. We look forward to continuing to build upon our partnership to further empower joint customers.”
The world’s most innovative enterprises use ThoughtSpot to empower every person in their organization, from C-suite executive to front-line employee, with the ability to quickly uncover data-driven insights. With ThoughtSpot, business people can type a simple search to instantly analyze billions of rows of data, and leverage artificial intelligence to get trusted, relevant insights pushed to them as answers to thousands of questions they might not have thought to ask. ThoughtSpot is simple enough for any business person to use, yet powerful enough to handle even the largest, most complex enterprise data without sacrificing speed, security, or governance. That’s why customers like Walmart, 7-11, BT, Daimler, Exxon, Hulu, Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of the West, Siemens, and Nationwide Building Society have turned to ThoughtSpot to transform their decision-making cultures and analyst firm Gartner named ThoughtSpot a Leader in the 2020 Magic Quadrant. By making insights a part of every conversation and every decision, ThoughtSpot is reimagining the role of data in creating a more fact-driven world. For more information, please visit www.thoughtspot.com.
For press inquiries, contact [email protected]


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Stories produced by students in the Meek School of Journalism & New Media
The day after Thanksgiving has always been a big shopping day, almost a holiday in it’s own right. What is known as “Black Friday” has shoppers literally fighting over merchandise and big chains such as Walmart and Target are cashing in because of this tradition. But it’s not only the national chains that benefit; local Oxford stores also look forward to the shopping frenzy, too.
“Black Friday is always good for us; we did very well”, said Steve Hinton, of Hinton&Hinton, a high-end clothing store on the Oxford Square.
What makes this day so successful? Mr. Hinton credits the Egg Bowl for much of this year’s high sales mark. The number of people in Oxford for the annual football rivalry game between Ole Miss and Mississippi State made Black Friday all the more sweet for Hinton & Hinton.
“We usually do really well on Black Friday, but when State comes in town, it brings in a lot of alumni to the store who have shopped with us for a while now,” said Hinton.
Not everyone is a fan of the Black Friday tradition of fighting the crowds, however. “I don’t see the point of standing out in the cold all night when I can get online in my own home, jump on the computer and be all nice and cozy and buy the same exact thing as in the stores,” said Jon Slimack, a senior at Ole Miss.
Online shopping has become extremely popular. In fact, Statista.com reports that sales from online shopping have gone from $72 billion in 2002 to a hefty $256 billion in 2011. In 2011, $1.25 billion was spent on Cyber Monday, making it the biggest online shopping day in history.
Stores like Hinton&Hinton take a hybrid approach, offering online browsing, but not purchases.
“People see a shirt that they like on our website, and because we don’t have an online store, they call and ask about it and place an order in over the phone and are able to pick it up in the store,” Hinton said.
For some, online shopping cannot replace some of the perks of shopping in-store. For instance, if you are shopping for clothes you may want to feel the fabric used, you may want to see the fit of the clothes compared to buying it online and having to return it because it is a couple sizes off. Many online merchants have a hefty shipping cost to go along with their products.
Whatever type of shopping suits your preference is a personal choice. What are not disputed, however, are the bargains that are to be had on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Shop wisely!


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Piggly Wiggly Midwest’s store in Cambridge, Wis., has achieved Green Grocer certification from the Madison-based Wisconsin Grocers Association (WGA), which is spearheading a pilot program to help grocery stores achieve energy savings, sustainability and environmental standards.
According to the WGA, the Sheboygan, Wis.-based grocer’s Cambridge store will reduce 832,266 pounds of CO2 greenhouse gas emissions next year as a result of upgraded refrigerators with a digital monitoring system. The store will in turn annually save $50,844, 433,853 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 10,246 therms of natural gas. That’s enough energy to power 47 homes and the equivalent of taking 70 cars off the road.
A ceremony commemorating the achievement took place Thursday afternoon.


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Although Indian Motorcycle holds bragging rights as the first American motorcycle brand—it was founded in 1901, two years before Harley Davidson in 1903—it still trails Harley in terms of sales and visibility. To attract more fans, Indian is focusing on its heritage and on driving foot traffic into stores.
On Saturday, customers who test-ride an Indian motorcycle at their local dealership can leave with a handcrafted piece of Indian Motorcycle art. Indian and Saatchi & Saatchi agency Team One tapped stencil artist Matthew Curran to create the pieces, which are made with the signature Indian Red paint and feature Indian's Chief Dark Horse motorcycle.
"It's a great tie to the brand and a great tie to our history, and it's something that our owners will value. It also lends itself to the handcrafted nature and the heritage of our bikes," Reid Wilson, director of marketing for Indian Motorcycle, told Adweek. "We're excited about it. It gives our dealers a great opportunity to talk to new customers and bring new people into the brand."
To promote the effort, Team One created a video of Curran at work stenciling and painting the prints. The video was posted on Indian's social channels and emailed to its mailing lists, and individual dealers were given assets to promote the effort on their social channels.
The idea was to give motorcycle enthusiasts something to come into the store for, said Craig Crawford, group creative director at Team One. "We wanted it to be something that someone frames and hangs in their man cave or their garage. It helped that the Indian logo is the kind of thing people want to put on T-shirts, whether they ride or not."
The effort also fits with Indian's current tagline, "Be Legendary," a nod to the brand's history, Wilson said. "Our target rider is predominantly male, and he appreciates history, authenticity, things with a past, and things that are uniquely American. We offer all of that, and we try to tell that story."
Most of Indian's target audience is comprised of baby boomers and Gen Xers, so the brand is focusing on appealing to that core audience as well as the next generation of riders. To do that, it hosts events around the country, including a race at the Bonneville Salt Flats later this year, as well as monthly events at dealerships.
"We're creating a spirit of community and camaraderie among all motorcyclists and our dealers, and allowing new people to come in to the brand, talk motorcycles, and go riding together," Wilson said. "We're relatively small compared to the giants like Harley-Davidson, so to break through and tell our story isn't about investing in media, it's about taking actions that are disruptive and live up to our past."


text: NEW YORK, United States — US holiday sales rose a less-than-forecast 3 percent, the National Retail Federation said, as merchants coped with unseasonably warm weather and a shift to spending on services.Holiday spending, which the group had projected to rise 3.7 percent, grew to $625.9 billion in the period, which spans November and December. Non-store sales, an indicator of e- commerce transactions, increased 9 percent to $105 billion, the NRF said. The figures exclude spending on automobiles, gasoline and restaurants.Retailers faced with mild weather and high inventories slashed prices to lure shoppers in the 2015 holiday season. As consumers shifted spending to experiences and services, such as restaurants, shows and nail salons, more retailers added promotions like free shipping.Research firm First Data said this month that retail sales increased 3.3 percent from Oct. 31 through Jan. 4, up from a 3.2 percent gain in the year-earlier period. The Thanksgiving holiday weekend dominated spending in the period, with sales rising 6.3 percent, the firm said, while the last two weeks of December also showed a higher concentration of sales.By: Lindsey Rupp; editors: Nick Turner and Mark Schoifet.